Darryl Roberts and other Marshall cornerbacks: UTSA loves to put the heat on the perimeter, and that will tax the recognition and closing skills of Roberts, Monterius Lovett and Derrick Thomas. They'll have to shed those chop blocks, too. One thing to remember: Roberts was as physical as anybody two weeks ago at Virginia Tech.

Tommy Shuler, Marshall receiver: Between UTSA's keep-it-in-front-of-you defense and possible rust from quarterback Rakeem Cato, this could be a 15-catch game.

The Herd tries to roll out the "unwelcome mat" for a Texas team for the 10th time in as many games in Huntington. The other victims are North Texas (1988), Southern Methodist (2005, 2009), Texas-El Paso (2006, 2010), Rice (2007, 2011) and Houston (2008, 2012). ... MU is "only" seventh in the nation in plays per game (83.5) and plays of 10 or more yards (21.0). The Herd led in both categories last year (90.6, 20.25).

538 Marshall total yards. The only question is which half the Herd will get its 300-plus.

Completely useless trivia

This is the 112th homecoming game at Marshall, a tradition traced back to Nov. 28, 1895. After losing 45-38 last year to Tulsa, the Herd is 58-49-8 all-time in homecoming games. A bad omen the Herd doesn't want to repeat: This is the fourth time the homecoming game has fallen in the first seven days of October and the Herd has lost the previous three - 1983 vs. Western Carolina, 2009 vs. East Carolina and 2012 vs. Tulsa.

Next

Marshall will be breaking out the "Cool Zone" fans again for the next one, traveling to Boca Raton, Fla., for a bout with another C-USA newcomer, Florida Atlantic. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. Saturday, with the game airing on some arm of Fox College Sports. The Roadrunners face another test of their West Division contention ambitions when the take on Rice at 4 p.m. Saturday.